Insurgency in Laos
This article needs to be updated. The reason given is: Updates needed past March 30, 2022.(November 2023) |
Insurgency in Laos | |||||
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Part of the Third Indochina War | |||||
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Belligerents | |||||
Supported by:
Soviet Union (until 1989) |
Royalists:
Supported by:
Rightists:
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Casualties and losses | |||||
Over 100,000 Hmong civilians killed[5] 300,000 displaced[6][7][8][9] |
The insurgency in Laos is a low-intensity conflict between the Laotian government on one side and former members of the Secret Army, Laotian royalists, and rebels from the Hmong and lowland Lao ethnic minorities on the other. These groups have faced reprisals from the Lao People's Army and Vietnam People's Army for their support of the United States-led, anti-communist military campaigns in Laos during the Laotian Civil War, which the insurgency is an extension of itself. The North Vietnamese invaded Laos in 1958 and supported the communist Pathet Lao. The Vietnamese communists continued to support the Pathet Lao after the end of the Laotian Civil War and the establishment of the Lao People's Democratic Republic.[10] At least 100,000 Hmong civilians were killed as the result of Laotian governmental policies, in what has sometimes been referred to as the Hmong genocide.[5][11]
While severely depleted, the remnants of an early 1980s-era, and 1990s-era, Royalist insurgency has been kept alive by an occasionally active guerrilla force of several thousand or so successors to that force. In June 2007, Vang Pao was arrested in the United States for an alleged plot to overthrow the Laotian communist government. His arrest led to an end of various attempts to overthrow the Laotian Government by the Hmong people, the royalists, and right-wing rebellions.
Insurgent history
Background
Vietnam and Laos have a complicated past. After Vietnam invaded and destroyed Laos during the
Lao Hmong insurgency
The conflict stems from three events prior to Laos independence: a failed coup attempt by the Red Prince Souphanouvong, Hmong aiding the French in Xieng Khoung against Lao and Vietnamese forces, and the French giving Hmong rights in Laos equal to the Lao.[citation needed]
In 1946, with the end of the Japanese occupation, Prince Souphanouvong and his half-brothers
When the French withdrew from Indochina shortly after their defeat in the
By 1975, with the collapse of the South in the Vietnam War and loss of American support, the Pathet Lao was able to take control of the government. Hmong people, especially those who had participated in the military conflict were singled out for retribution.
Of the Hmong who remained in Laos, over 30,000 were sent to re-education camps as political prisoners where they served indeterminate, sometimes life, sentences. Enduring hard physical labor and difficult conditions, many people died.[13] Thousands more Hmong people, mainly former soldiers and their families, escaped to remote mountain regions – particularly Phou Bia, the highest and least accessible mountain peak in Laos. At first, these loosely organized groups staged attacks against Pathet Lao and Vietnamese troops. Others remained in hiding to avoid conflict. Initial military successes by these small bands led to military counter-attacks by government forces, including aerial bombing and heavy artillery, as well as the use of defoliants and chemical weapons.[14]
Today, most Hmong people in Laos live peacefully in villages and cities, but small groups of Hmong people, many of them second or third generation descendants of former CIA soldiers, remain internally displaced in remote parts of Laos, in fear of government reprisals. As recently as 2003, there were reports of sporadic attacks by these groups, but journalists who have visited their secret camps in recent times have described them as hungry, sick, and lacking weapons beyond Vietnam War-era rifles.[15][16] Although they pose no military threat, the Lao government continues to characterize these people as "bandits" and attack their positions, using rape as a weapon and often killing and injuring women and children.[17] Most casualties occur while people are gathering food from the jungle, since any permanent settlement is impossible.[18]
Faced with continuing military operations against them by the government and a scarcity of food, some groups have begun coming out of hiding, while others have sought asylum in Thailand and other countries.[19] In December 2009 a group of 4,500 refugees were forcibly repatriated to Laos from camps in Thailand despite the objections of, amongst others, the United Nations and the USA.[20]
Some Hmong fled to
Lieutenant-Colonel Harrison Ulrich Jack, a retired California National Guard officer who reportedly served in covert operations during the Vietnam War (in Laos in co-ordination with the Hmong and other tribal groups) and former General Vang Pao were named as the probable ringleaders of the purported coup plot. Vang Pao had reportedly built up a strong network of contacts within the U.S. government and corporate circles sympathetic to his cause.[23] Some speculated that the proposed new government would be much more accepting of large foreign business and may also lead to an explosion of the drugs trade as has been the case in Afghanistan.[24]
The defendants' lawyers argued that the case against all of their clients was spurious at best. "The case cannot proceed [because] the process has been so corrupted by the government's misconduct that there can never be any confidence in the validity of the charge," said Mark Reichel, one of the defense attorneys involved in the case. "[W]hile the [prosecution] tries to portray the 'conspiracy' as a dangerous and sophisticated military plan, it cannot refute the extensive evidence demonstrating otherwise – from the agent's informing the so-called conspirators that they would need an operational plan; to his providing a map of the region when they couldn't procure a useful one; to his explanation of what GPS was (including that it requires batteries); to the so-called conspirators' inability to finance the operation."[25]
In 2008, according to a military official, the government ordered Laos troops to shoot to kill ethnic Hmong insurgents, including Hmong villagers hiding in the jungles. A cash reward is said to be given for every Hmong fighter killed. However, the government in Laos denied the authenticity of the order.[26]
On 18 September 2009, the Federal Government dropped all charges against Vang Pao, announcing in a release that the "continued prosecution of this defendant is no longer warranted," and that the federal government was permitted to consider "the probable sentence or other consequences if the person is convicted.”[27] That same year, Chong Lor Her became the leader of the ChaoFa party, which he still serves as today.[9] On 2 October 2013, he claimed that the Laos military was using dogs to hunt down the Hmong.[28]
After Xaisomboun became a province in December 2013, the military in Laos continued to increase their presence in the area by creating more military bases and bringing more soldiers into the region. The increased density of military installations and bases in the region has made it more difficult for the Hmong to go out and search for food without encountering soldiers. This has greatly threatened their survival and so has led to clashes between Hmong and the Lao military, leaving hundreds of Hmong dead or injured. ChaoFa President Her urged the international community to send his people immediate humanitarian aid, but without any luck.[9]
On 8 April 2016, the Laos military launched a military incursion into the territory of Hmong communities in the Phou Bia area, reportedly with the help of Vietnamese forces. On 23 April, the military used a civilian helicopter to spray poison over Hmong territory. On 4 May, government forces attacked a Hmong village in Xaysomboun, killing two civilians. On 14 September, two Hmong men were taken away by Laos police from their village of Lat Houang. Later, they were found beaten to death on 23 September by a Laotian fisherman.[9]
On 21 September 2016, the Laos military fired rockets loaded with toxic gas into Hmong areas killing a Hmong baby. On 6 October, another Hmong baby died from chemical poisoning.[9]
In November 2017, the Laos government intensified its shelling of Hmong areas.[29]
On 20 June 2020, a government soldier was shot and killed while on patrol inspecting for illegal poppy cultivation.[30]
On 9 March 2021, one militant was killed in a clash with Laos soldiers in Thathom district, Xaysomboun. After the clash, the government sent troops to hunt down the escaped gunmen.[30]
Royalist-in-exile insurgency
Beginning in 1980, the
During this time, Laos was allied with the Soviet-backed communist Vietnamese government. The Lao government had referred to China's ruling clique as "the direct enemy of the Lao people" and further stated that relations could potentially be improved between itself and Thailand as well as with the United States, but gave no mention of a possibility for diplomatic amends with China.[32] Despite allying itself formally in writing with Democratic Kampuchea (Cambodia under the Khmer Rouge; also communist) during the Third Congress of the Lao People's Revolutionary Party, allegations would surface that the Khmer Rouge (closely allied to China, and vehemently anti-Vietnamese and anti-Soviet) had also been funding and allotting supplies to the anti-communist Royalist insurgents for use in their insurgency against the government of Laos, while the majority of purported support would be divulged during the forever displaced regime's exile along the Thai border and perhaps to a lesser degree, in Thailand itself during the 1980s.[31]
The Royalists had also cooperated and were involved to a limited degree in the attempts to overthrow the Vietnamese-backed People's Republic of Kampuchea alongside the Khmer Rouge.[31] During the early 1980s, the Khmer Rouge had largely abandoned (or perhaps halted) communist ideals and were instead focused primarily on exuding Cambodian nationalist fervor and an increase in anti-Vietnamese rhetoric.
The Royalist insurgency gradually fell into disrepair and in terms of its 1970s and 1980s-era form, it has almost entirely vanished militarily as well as ideologically. A correlated movement of sporadic insurgents succeeded the LNLF and while divided into the congruent style of multiple minimally-proportioned bands of insurgents, have been estimated to contain a strength nearing 2,000 to 3,000 men as of the early 1990s.[31]
Right-wing insurgency
An insurgency politically correlative to the Royalist insurgency led by the United Front for the Liberation of Laos (LPNLUF) and minor allied similar groups[33] had also transpired around the same time period, and reportedly was equipped with a strength of 40,000, Chinese and Khmer Rouge funded and trained right-wing insurgents who placed their desire to expel Vietnamese political and military standing in Laos above any other goal. While the movement managed to proclaimed their own provisional or "liberation" government (speedily disbanded by the Lao military), this insurgency proved to be as by chance less effective than the lesser-trained Royalist-focused insurgency.[31]
This insurgency has no reported standing in terms of force within Laos today. While its claims have never been verified nor widely accepted, the LPNLUF claims to have put some one-third of Laotian territory under its provisional jurisdiction before it was put down by the Lao government.[34]
The insurgents of the LNLF were largely former Royalist government officials who had fled into exile after the
Human rights and refugee situation
In Laos there exists a large population of CIA-trained Hmong veteran soldiers who fought as American allies against Communist forces, which, during the insurgency were persecuted for their political beliefs.[35] Fearing reprisals, retribution, retaliation and persecution, around half of the 300,000 Hmong in Laos were forced to flee, becoming refugees and settling in countries such as the United States.[36][37]
See also
- United Front for the Liberation of Oppressed Races
- FULRO insurgency against Vietnam
- 2007 Laotian coup d'état attempt
- Royal Lao Government in Exile
- Laotian Civil War
- The Center for Public Policy Analysis
References
- ^ "UCDP - Uppsala Conflict Data Program". ucdp.uu.se. Retrieved 8 August 2022.
- ^ "The Thwarted Overthrow of Laos Government By American Hmong". Global Politician. 14 June 2007. Archived from the original on 18 May 2008. Retrieved 16 May 2019.
- ^ "Laos' controversial exile". BBC News. June 11, 2007. Archived from the original on June 17, 2010. Retrieved June 18, 2010.
- ISBN 978-1-134-12268-4. Archivedfrom the original on 16 January 2016. Retrieved 11 November 2015.
- ^ a b "37. Laos (1954-present) - University of Central Arkansas".
- ^ Statistics of Democide Rudolph Rummel
- ^ "UCDP - Uppsala Conflict Data Program". ucdp.uu.se. Retrieved 8 August 2022.
- ^ "UCDP - Uppsala Conflict Data Program". ucdp.uu.se. Retrieved 8 August 2022.
- ^ a b c d e "UNPO: Timeline: Hmong". unpo.org. Archived from the original on 27 November 2022. Retrieved 13 June 2022.
- ^ online.ucpress.edu https://online.ucpress.edu/currenthistory/article-abstract/122/845/230/197078/Land-Concessions-and-Postwar-Conflict-in-Laos?redirectedFrom=fulltext. Retrieved 9 December 2023.
{{cite web}}
: Missing or empty|title=
(help) - ^ "The Forgotten Genocide: Hmong And Montagnards Face Violent Religious Persecution".
- ^ Jane Hamilton-Merritt, Tragic Mountains: The Hmong, the Americans, and the Secret Wars for Laos, 1942–1992 (Indiana University Press, 1999), pp337-460
- ^ "The Hmong: An Introduction to their History and Culture". Archived from the original on 12 October 2012.
- ^ Minority Policies and the Hmong in Laos(Published in Stuart-Fox, M. ed. Contemporary Laos: Studies in the Politics and Society of the Lao People’s Democratic Republic (St.Lucia: Queensland University Press, 1982), pp. 199 – 219)"Archived copy". Archived from the original on 1 January 2007. Retrieved 21 December 2006.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) - ^ Perrin, Andrew (April 28, 2003). "Welcome to the Jungle". Time Magazine. Archived from the original on May 3, 2007. Retrieved April 27, 2007.
- ^ Arnold, Richard (January 19, 2007). "Laos: Still a Secret War". Worldpress. Archived from the original on May 9, 2007. Retrieved April 27, 2007.
- ^ "Rebecca Sommer Film Clips". Archived from the original on 5 January 2011. Retrieved 20 March 2015.
- ^ "Lao People's Democratic Republic". Amnesty International. 27 March 2007. Archived from the original on 10 April 2007. Retrieved 27 April 2007.
- ^ Kinchen, David (17 November 2006). "438 former "Cob Fab" removed by helicopter after they came out of hiding". Hmong Today. Archived from the original on 22 February 2007. Retrieved 22 March 2007.
- ^ "Tragic Mountains". Archived from the original on 26 October 2009. Retrieved 20 March 2015.
- ^ See "Laos 'coup plot' uncovered in US". 5 June 2007. Archived from the original on 7 February 2009. Retrieved 7 October 2007., and "News - Hmong coup details unveiled - sacbee.com". Archived from the original on 17 December 2007. Retrieved 7 October 2007.
- ^ "Nine Charged Over Laos 'Coup Plot'". www.aljazeera.com. Archived from the original on 6 July 2008.
- ^ The Christian Science Monitor (6 June 2007). "US agents thwart planned Laos coup plot". The Christian Science Monitor. Archived from the original on 8 February 2009. Retrieved 20 March 2015.
- ^ Zoroya, Gregg; Leinwand, Donna (October 28, 2004). "Opium threatens Afghan security". USA Today. Archived from the original on July 12, 2012. Retrieved May 4, 2010.
- ^ "CIA's Lao ally faces 'outrageous' charge". Asia Times. Archived from the original on 18 July 2012.
- ^ "Lao Troops Told Shoot to Kill Hmong Rebels". Radio Free Asia. Archived from the original on 23 March 2021. Retrieved 13 June 2022.
- ^ McKinley, Jesse (19 September 2009). "U.S. Drops Case Against Exiled Hmong Leader". Archived from the original on 6 November 2015 – via NYTimes.com.
- ^ "UNPO: Worsening Situation for the Hmong in Laos". unpo.org. Archived from the original on 27 October 2022. Retrieved 13 June 2022.
- ^ "Hmong face military in Laos jungle in fallout from Vietnam war". RFI. 5 December 2017. Archived from the original on 11 January 2023. Retrieved 13 June 2022.
- ^ a b "Clash Between Lao Troops and Armed Group Leaves One Dead in Xaysomboun". Radio Free Asia. Archived from the original on 11 January 2023. Retrieved 12 June 2022.
- ^ ISBN 9781412815666. Archivedfrom the original on 1 May 2016. Retrieved 20 March 2015.
- ^ JSTOR 2644329.
- ^ http://www.mtholyoke.edu/~slhuynh/classweb/secret_war.html[permanent dead link]
- ^ Tragic Mountains: The Hmong, the Americans, and the Secret Wars for Laos, 1942–1992
- ^ Currie, L. Catherine (2008). "The Vanishing Hmong: Forced Repatriation to an Uncertain Future". North Carolina Journal of International Law and Commercial Regulation. 34: 325, 359.
- ISBN 978-0-87351-598-6.
- S2CID 154862522.
External links
- FactFinding.org Archived 11 February 2012 at the Wayback Machine – information about the Hmong veterans of the Secret War remaining in the jungles of Laos (requires Adobe Flash)
- "Acts of Betrayal", by Michael Johns, National Review, 23 October 1995.
- Clips from "Hunted like animals" – a documentary by Rebecca Sommer on the plight of the Hmong in Laos and problems faced by those facing repatriation from Thai refugee camps
- The Hmong Crisis: The Secret Tragedy of Laos Archived 29 August 2021 at the Wayback Machine